While Johns Hopkins’ streak of 41 straight appearances in the NCAA tournament came to an end Sunday night, Salisbury maintained its Division III-leading streak of 25 consecutive showings in the postseason. The team will play host to Susquehanna (12-6) this Wednesday at Sea Gull Stadium in Salisbury.

Unlike Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala who downplayed the end of his program’s streak, Sea Gulls coach Jim Berkman said his team’s streak is meaningful to the players and coaches.

“It was definitely something that we’ve been very proud of here to have that long of a streak and to play at such a high for a long period of time,” said Berkman, who has guided Salisbury to 10 national championships including the last two. “I don’t know how else to explain other than to say that we always take pride in playing what we call the real season now. To have that opportunity again for the 25th year is special.”

But the Sea Gulls (14-5) barely got into this year’s NCAA tournament. Not only did they lose to St. Mary’s, 13-11, in Sunday’s final of the Capital Athletic Conference tournament, they also absorbed their fifth loss of the season. According to Lacrosse Magazine, Salisbury was the last team to make the NCAA tournament.

Berkman said he hopes the players use that new lease on life to their advantage.

“I think they feel fortunate that after not playing very well yesterday and blowing a lead again in the fourth quarter, they’re going to seize this opportunity,” he said. “We’ve obviously got to play better than we played [Sunday]. But I also think that this is a very unique team.”